Star casino in $13m push to expand high-roller facilities before Packer opens his doors
- 22nd June 2014

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Business Sydney

Expansion: The Star in Pyrmont plans to target high rollers. Photo: James Brickwood

The Star casino wants to expand its high-roller rooms to snag a bigger piece of the high-roller action before James Packer’s casino opens for business.

Echo Entertainment Group has lodged a development application with the City of Sydney Council for a $13.7 million extension to its Pyrmont casino.

The Star wants to alter the 17th level of the Astral hotel tower to accommodate five new private gaming rooms and extend an existing private gaming room.

The area is to target VIP guests, casino-speak for high rollers, mainly punters from Asia who are willing to bet hundreds of thousands of dollars on a card, and who are lured here with packages that include executive jet travel.

The new gaming rooms will be in addition to The Star’s Sovereign Room and Inner Sanctum, which host VIP or high-roller guests.

The Star has a five-year window to attempt to get a lock on the high-roller market.

Mr Packer’s Crown Resorts casino for VIP-only gambling in his $1.3 billion hotel complex at Barangaroo is due to open in November 2019.

Mr Packer is aiming to attract ‘‘Asian high-net-worth travellers to Sydney, in particular from China". Local and interstate high rollers will have to prove they have VIP entry to other casinos in order to play the Barangaroo tables.

A spokesman for Echo Entertainment Group said details of The Star's proposed development would be on display until July 15.

‘‘Echo is undertaking the investment as part of our ongoing reinvestment in The Star,’’ he said.

‘‘As outlined in Echo's recent trading update the underlying business has good momentum and we want to continue to build on this attracting both local and International visitors.’’

In 2011 the casino was relaunched with a close to $1 billion refurbishment that took 30 months and was then the most expensive and extensive redevelopment of a Sydney complex. It increased accommodation by 36 per cent, retail by 124 per cent and gaming by 6 per cent.

The gaming room extensions at the Astral hotel tower will add to the high-end market facilities.

Last week Echo chief executive Matt Bekier said the casino business had shrugged off the downturn in consumer sentiment suffered by retailers and the group expected stronger than expected earnings.

Echo had bettered predictions by industry pundits because domestic revenue had grown "at a pretty impressive rate in the second half", Mr Bekier said.

"I know that some of the analysts look at VIP – it has turned around in volume, but as you know it's quite low margin," he said. "We've really focused on the domestic business."

Domestic revenue, which excludes the VIP business, rose 9.3 per cent with local punters boosting activity at Echo's flagship Star casino, its Treasury casino in Brisbane and Jupiters Gold Coast.

Echo shares have fallen 7 per cent in the past year and have traded between a low of $2.18 in February, following former chief executive John Redmond's resignation, and a high of $3.10 in June last year. The stock closed at $3.08 on Friday.